Basque Gran
Brigadier General Basque Grand is one of the higher ranking officers in the Amestrian Military and a prominent State Alchemist known as the "Iron Blood Alchemist". Like Roy Mustang, Grand was a legend of the Ishbal War and has gained much notoriety for his actions on the Eastern battlefield. He is known among the ranks as a master of hand-to-hand combat in addition to his significant alchemical abilities, but was nonetheless murdered by Scar early in the series. It has also been said that Grand was at the head of research at Central Alchemical Laboratory Number 5 In The Manga In the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, Brigadier General Grand is referred to only in flashback or in retrospect, as he is one of the earliest named victims of Scar's murderous rampage, but the flashback to the Ishbal War in Chapter 60 displays him at the height of his prowess on the front lines. Grand appears to be a man of great honor, charisma and conviction, charging into battle as the vanguard regardless of his higher rank (Colonel at the time) and against the protestations of the enlisted men under his command. When the Supreme Cleric of the Ishbalan People, Logue Lowe, offers himself up to end the fighting, Grand takes the man under his protection and leads him to Brigadier General Fessler in the hopes of finding a quick resolution to the war. But Grand is driven to take more direct action when Fessler proves to be too committed to the massacre to allow a meeting between Logue Lowe and King Bradley, shooting his superior officer coldly and assuming Fessler's command post. Though the act was witnessed by a fair number of soldiers (the then Captain Maes Hughes included), all present state their approval of Grand by verbally attributing Fessler's death to a stray bullet. Logue Lowe offers his thanks to Grand, but the Iron Blood Alchemist shrugs it off, merely stating that he hopes negotiations with Bradley go well. In an omake, Fullmetal Alchemist author Arakawa Hiromu reveals that Scar was able to defeat Basque Grand despite the Brigadier General's proficiency in hand-to-hand and alchemical combat by catching him after he exited a pub, soused to dizzyness. 2003 anime In the 2003 anime series, Basque Grand plays a more significant role in the early storyline as an antagonist, first appearing in episode 5 during the Shou Tucker arc. He is shown bullying Tucker into delivering results with chimera research so as not to be shown up by Colonel Mustang and his new acquisition of Edward Elric and then attempts to cart Tucker's daughter Nina away to a lab for study (presumably Laboratory 5) after it becomes apparent that her father had experimented on her. Grand reappears in episode 13, at the beginning of the Scar/Tim Marcoh arc, interrupting Ed and Hughes' conversation about Marcoh to reveal his disgust with the Crystal Alchemist for deserting during the Ishbal War. Grand, in episode 14, follows Ed and Al to Marcoh's current location and storms in with a platoon of soldiers to arrest Marcoh and confiscate his Philosopher's Stone. The armored car is stopped by Scar and, despite having the added power of the Philosopher's Stone at his side, Basque Grand is killed by the Ishbalan avenger. During the Laboratory 5 arc, Envy disguises himself as Basque Grand in order to shepherd prisoners for Philosopher's Stone ingredients and attempts to fool Edward, but fails due to the Fullmetal Alchemist's presence at the real Brigadier General's death.